Elara has been betrothed to the prince of Kyrenica for a whole year; Elara discovers she is the identical twin to Wilha the crown princess of Galandra who has always worn a mask. Wilha is finally experiencing the freedom of wearing her own face. Elara has fallen in love with her sister's betrothed, and the twin princesses struggle to return to life as they once knew it.
Meanwhile, in Galandra the country is deteriorating and when the king dies mysteriously the prince, their younger brother, reveals the princesses' deception. In a bid for the throne, Prince Andrei reveals both young women as traitors to Kyrencia's royal family, unraveling the lives they've built. Elara and Wilha are on the run for their lives both in Kyrencia and Galandra.
The alliances Wilha's marriage would build with their neighboring nation are strained. Galandra and Kyrencia at war would serve Andrei's purposes and solidify his reign, but Elara and Wilha have developed relationships with each other and political powers in both countries.
Deciding who will wear the Galandrian crown is not simply a matter of who was born first, but of which twin will choose to be her nation's savior. Secrets of their past come to light while they escape one situation after another.
Wilha struggles with confidence and living outside her sheltered and privileged childhood. Elara is challenged by her own fears and uncertainty about her past. Each young woman's history gives her some perspective on how to proceed in rapidly-changing times as civil and international war threaten to break out.
Life for the princesses is difficult as they leave the protection of Kyrencia and the royal family. The world has only believed Galandra to have one princess and the appearance of a second, especially one whose face no one outside the royal family has seen adds to the dissent surrounding the king's death and political turmoil.
Their story carries little of the princess-perfect "happily ever after" traditionally associated with a transition of royal power - life for Elara and Wilha is messy and complicated just as normal life is messy and complicated. Young adult readers will enjoy the elaborate world-building and political maneuvering which goes into resolving an attempted coup d'etat. The Opal Crown is a continuation of The Opal Mask completing the duology.
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